A self-described “armchair detective” and a Finnish molecular biologist have claimed to have discovered the identity of the serial killer known as Jack the Ripper, who brutally murdered at least five prostitutes in the East End of London in the autumn of 1888.

A report in the Mail on Sunday names the killer as Aaron Kosminski, a Jewish Polish-born immigrant who lived in the East End and would have been 23 years old at the time of the murders. He had arrived in England in 1881 with his family, who were fleeing persecution by Russian authorities. He was later committed to an insane asylum, where he died of complications from gangrene.

Molecular biologist Dr. Jari Louhelainen tells the Mail on Sunday that he used a technique called “vacuuming” to remove DNA from a stained shawl purportedly belonging to one of the victims, Catherine Eddowes. Businessman Russell Edwards had bought the shawl at an auction in 2007, and had asked Louhelainen to help him find any clues that may be connected with the Ripper case.

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/09/08/dna-testing-reportedly-reveals-identity-jack-ripper/